thetree0flife
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TLDR: I have 3 options, which one is best?
Hello SDN!
I am a freshman undergrad student who is seeking guidance on how to approach the rest of my premed years (sorry for the long post). Below is some important information about me:
For context, I went to a very competitive high school, and racked up a lot of AP classes. Because most of the medical schools that I am interested in applying to (TX schools and T20s) seem to take the AP credit that I am using (correct me if I'm wrong here), I took all of the credit I could get. As a result, I have a few options on how I want to approach the rest of premed.
Option 1: 3 years undergrad straight through to med school
Pros:
Pros:
Pros:
PS: Sorry if my post is a bit janky, still learning how to use SDN.
Hello SDN!
I am a freshman undergrad student who is seeking guidance on how to approach the rest of my premed years (sorry for the long post). Below is some important information about me:
- Residency: TX
- Undergrad: T20
- Major: Biochem
GPA: 4.0 cGPA/4.0 sGPA (we'll see how this changes) - MCAT: Planning to take second semester of sophomore year (will be done with all prereqs by then)
- Research: 1 sem biochem research, planning to continue
Shadowing: 15 hrs interventional nephrology, >50 hrs from HS (but I can't use these apparently), planning to shadow in orthopedic surgery sometime this semester
Clinical experience: Working on getting an EMT cert this summer/next semester - Nonclinical volunteering: Setting up a science teaching opportunity for elementary schoolers in the areas around my undergrad
For context, I went to a very competitive high school, and racked up a lot of AP classes. Because most of the medical schools that I am interested in applying to (TX schools and T20s) seem to take the AP credit that I am using (correct me if I'm wrong here), I took all of the credit I could get. As a result, I have a few options on how I want to approach the rest of premed.
Option 1: 3 years undergrad straight through to med school
Pros:
- One less year of the premed rat race
- Saves money + one more year of attending salary down the line
- Need to get extracurriculars ready super early
- Age factor in applications (I would be 20/21 during interviews)
- College has pre-health committee, so would need to convince them before I apply
- Missing out on "college experience" (not a big fan of this anyways, so this is a lesser con)
Pros:
- Same benefits of Option 1 (except for 1 more year of attending salary)
- More time to develop extracurriculars in junior year + apply in gap year
- Age still a factor (though I feel that 1 year older than Option 1 will be a little better)
- Being out of school for a year (so need to have a solid plan)
- Missing out on "college experience"
Pros:
- The "traditional path," so will be easier to follow
- Time to add a second major, which could be interesting to write about in essays (don't think it'll make me look more impressive though)
- More time to develop extracurriculars in junior year + apply in senior year
- Paying for all 4 years of undergrad
PS: Sorry if my post is a bit janky, still learning how to use SDN.